Tweeting Can Help You Land Your Next Job

Well, not Tweeting specifically, but social media in general is becoming more important for job seekers looking to impress potential employers and creating exposure for their personal brands. According to a recent survey prepared by Jobvite, more people get hired via online referrals and company career pages than from traditional job boards. Social media sites provide job seekers with rich opportunities to reach out to employers and create virtual resumes, detailing their skills and relevant work experience/education.

Companies plan on investing more in social media sites for candidate recruiting

According to the results of the survey, a grand total of 73% of respondents projected an increase in social networking investing, illustrating the power of sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter. Social networking led the pack among the sources listed, with referrals, corporate career sites, and direct sourcing falling behind social networking respectively. Surprisingly, 37% of respondents stated that they would increase their respective spend in search engine optimization, only two percent less than job boards. This shift towards a comprehensive online marketing solution for candidate recruiting speaks to the power of the Internet and the ability for hiring professionals to find more selected, targeted candidates online than through traditional sources.

LinkedIn leads the pack among all social media networks

Unsurprisingly, LinkedIn led the pack with 94% of respondents who indicated that they actively use LinkedIn as part of their social networking and recruiting strategies. Facebook came in second at 65%, and 55% of respondents indicated that they leverage the power of Twitter for recruiting initiatives. However, the interesting results are where the other networks reside. Blogs proved to be a valuable resource for recruiters according to the survey, most likely due to young professionals leveraging the power of content marketing to create a name for themselves . The multimedia social site YouTube came in 6th with 15%, illustrating that there is an opportunity for job seekers to create an impression by developing interactive “elevator-pitch” style videos.

Does social media recruiting work, or do companies waste their resources?

Planning and implementing a social media strategy is fine and dandy, but does it work for employers? The results of the survey point to yes, as 78% of respondents stated that they have successfully hired candidates through a social media network. Once again, it’s no surprise that LinkedIn leads the pack with a 92% success rate among respondents, mainly because the platform is literally built for filtering through resumes and job seekers. The paid recruiting account packages and advertising products available provide HR professionals with a wealth of tools at their disposal to find the right candidates.

What type of social media content will offend recruiters?

Job seekers need to be cautious and somewhat strategic with the management of their social profiles. According to the survey, the following proves to be overwhelmingly negative for job recruiters:

References to doing illegal drugs (83% negative)

Content of a sexual nature (71% negative)

Profanity (65% negative)

Spelling/grammar errors (61% negative)

References to guns (51% negative)

Pictures of consumption of alcohol (47% negative)

Most of the above can be easily controlled, although the photos of alcohol consumption largely depend on the context of the photo. For example, a photo of a bride and groom holding a glass of champagne won’t be perceived as negative; however, a topless photo of yourself chugging beers at Frosh will most definitely turn potential employers off and put your resume at the bottom of the pile (and result in a pretty bad hangover, too). Interestingly enough, political and religious content is viewed as mostly neutral, mainly because it depends on the tone of posts and whether or not the content is inflammatory towards a specific group of people.

As exhibited by the results of the Jobvite survey, there seems to be a shift towards leveraging the popularity social media to hire new candidates. In an ever-increasing social world, it’s not only important to optimize your profiles for search (both within the sites themselves and on search engines), but to leverage sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter to network and build valuable connections. These connections can help expose you to exciting career opportunities, and more importantly, brand yourself as an expert in your field.

2 thoughts on “Tweeting Can Help You Land Your Next Job”

Interesting post and very timely. I have to agree that individuals are using blogs, myself included, to make a name for themselves and demonstrate knowledge and skills in a particular area of interest/industry.

It’s a growing trend that won’t slow down any time soon. In fact, I was able to further myself in my own career via blogging, and it opened up opportunities for me to hold workshops on social media. Creating fresh and original content is a great way to show your expertise, and then leveraging social sites for networking can connect you with the right people.